In virtually all fields of communications, there exists a persistent demand to transmit more data in less time. The amount of information that can be transmitted over a communications system (or through a component of that system) is referred to as the bit rate or the data throughput of the system. Traditionally, system throughput is increased by either increasing the number of channels carrying information or increasing the bit rate of each channel. In order to meet ever-increasing bandwidth demands, aggregate throughput in fiber optic transmission systems has conventionally been increased by using multiple Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) channels, time-division-multiplexing (TDM), or some combination of the two techniques. WDM techniques increase the number of channels transmitted on a particular fiber, while TDM techniques increase the data rate of each individual channel.
Conventional optical fiber networks typically can deliver on the order of 10 Gigabits of data per second (10 Gb/s). Both WDM and TDM techniques have been applied to realize fiber channel bit rates well above this conventional 10 Gb/s capacity. Many fiber optic communication systems comprise multiple WDM channels simultaneously transmitted through a single optical fiber. Each of these channels operates independently at a given bit rate, B. Thus for an m channel WDM system, the system throughput is equal to m×B. Conventional Dense WDM (DWDM) systems typically operate with 40 to 100 channels. There are certain restrictions, however, that limit the aggregate power that can be transmitted through a single DWDM optical fiber (i.e., the launch power). For example, eye safety power regulations and nonlinear effects in the fiber place limits on the aggregate launch power. In addition, channel spacing limitations and per-channel launch power, effectively limit the number of WDM channels that can be combined for transmission on a single fiber.
Optical fiber networks are typically comprised of a series of links that include a transmission block, a receiver block, and a long stretch of optical fiber connecting the two blocks (i.e., the optical plant). FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional m-channel WDM fiber optic transmission system link 100. The fiber optic transmission system link 100 consists of a WDM transmission block 102 (denoted as the “Head”), the optical fiber 104, and a WDM reception block 106 (denoted as the “Terminal”). The Head 102 comprises m transmitters 108-112 (labeled “Tx”) and an m-channel WDM multiplexer 114. Each transmitter 108-112 comprises an optical source (not shown) and all circuitry necessary to modulate the source with the incoming data stream. For the case of external modulation, the transmitter block also includes a modulator. The Terminal 106 comprises an m-channel WDM demultiplexer 116 and m receivers 118-122 (labeled “Rx”). Each receiver 118-122 comprises a photodetector (not shown) and all circuitry required to operate the detector and amplify the detected signal in order to output the original electrical data stream.
For 10 Gb/s transmission in optical fiber, chromatic dispersion can present a potentially significant transmission problem. Any transmitted optical signal will have a spectral width associated with it. As data rates increase for on-off key modulated signals, the spectral width of the modulated signal increases as well. Because the refractive index of a fiber medium, such as silica fiber is a function of wavelength, different components in the spectrum of the optical signal will travel at different velocities through the fiber. This phenomenon is known as chromatic dispersion, and it can present a significant source of distortion and inter-symbol interference (ISI) for high-speed optical transmission over long lengths of fiber. Conventional 10 Gb/s links of 75 kilometers or longer typically utilize some type of dispersion compensation to offset this effect. Such dispersion compensation is typically implemented in the form of dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) that counteracts the dispersive effects of standard fiber.
In order to upgrade existing fiber optic transmission systems for 10 Gb/s signaling, dispersion compensation can become an even more complex issue. In order to realize channel data rates of 10 Gb/s and beyond, the optical fiber 104 as well as the Head 102 and Terminal 106 of the link 100 are typically upgraded to support the increased data rates. In order to increase the channel bit rates in this conventional link 100, each transmission block 102 and reception block 106 must be replaced with optical components and circuitry capable of achieving the desired bandwidths. For high-speed channel bit rates (10 Gb/s and faster), the optical fiber 104 also must often be replaced in order to compensate for signal distortions, which are more prominent at higher data rates. This process can be particularly cumbersome and costly in a long-haul link where hundreds of kilometers of fiber must be replaced. For existing long-haul optical links, the complexity and cost of replacing planted fiber often represents a prohibitive barrier for increasing channel bit rates.
Service providers seeking to optimize revenue and contain cost prefer a highly granular, incremental expansion capability that is cost effective while retaining network scalability. The ability to increase the throughput capacity of single point-to-point links or multi-span links without upgrading or otherwise impacting the remainder of the network is highly desirable from an engineering, administrative and profitability standpoint. It is also desirable to decrease the power required to transmit a signal over an optical fiber communication system. However, power efficiency cannot normally be realized at the cost of data throughput rates.
Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology currently enables high aggregate data rates in long-haul fiber optic transmission systems. The maximum power per WDM channel on a single fiber link is limited by several well-known nonlinear effects including self-phase modulation (SPM), cross-phase modulation (XPM), four-wave mixing (FWM), stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). Since a given fiber optic system will have inherent limits on the maximum total power that can be transmitted on a single fiber, these nonlinear effects ultimately limit the maximum number of channels, i.e., wavelengths, in a DWDM system. For many WDM systems, particularly long-haul transmission links, it is desirable to increase the number of WDM channels, thereby increasing the total aggregate data rate of the system.
In order to meet growing demands for higher data throughput in WDM fiber optic transmission systems, more channels per fiber are desired. The detrimental effects (such as channel cross-talk and signal-to-noise degradation) due to nonlinear interactions such as FWM increase as channel spacings decrease. Accordingly, simply narrowing the WDM channel spacing is not a completely satisfactory solution. However, because decreasing the transmitted power per channel can reduce many nonlinear effects in the system, one solution entails simultaneously reducing the power per channel and the channel spacing to realize a greater number of channels. Advantageously, decreasing the power per channel while maintaining the channel spacing can increase the transmission length of a given WDM system.
Compared to on-off keying (OOK), alternative modulation techniques such as pulse position modulation (PPM) can reduce the transmitted power per channel. However, in the specific case of PPM, the increased efficiency can be realized at the cost of decreased bandwidth. Using this method of modulation, a transmitted symbol, or cell, is divided into a discrete number of equally spaced temporal positions. One pulse, or chip, is transmitted per cell, occupying one and only one of the temporal positions within that cell. In this way, data is encoded into the temporal position of a chip within its particular cell.
As an example of the PPM format, FIG. 3 illustrates an 8-PPM (eight temporal positions per cell) data stream with a cell period of T and a chip duration of τ, which is one eighth the cell period. This 8-PPM modulation format could be used to multiplex three independent OOK data streams (each with bit rates equal to T−1) since there are eight (23) chip positions available in each cell. Assuming that each of the three multiplexed channels consists of a data stream with an equal percentage of 0s and 1s transmitted, the 8-PPM data stream as shown in FIG. 3 can operate at 1/12 the average transmitted power of the three OOK channels combined.
Although PPM requires less average transmitted power than conventional OOK, overall bandwidth in the link is decreased. In order to multiplex n OOK channels (each with a bit rate of T−1) in n-PPM format for optical transmission, the link would require electronics and optical components that could operate with bit rates of 2n/T. If we consider the example of 8-PPM shown in FIG. 3, the components required to transmit such a signal would need to be capable of operating at a bit rate of 8/T in order to transmit chips of duration τ=T/8. However, the aggregate data rate of the 8-PPM system would be 3/T (number of channels·OOK channel bit rate). In general, in order to transmit an n-PPM data stream, components with a data rate of 2n/T are required, but the aggregate data rate of the system would only be n/T. For high-speed fiber optic links, greater bandwidth is typically preferred over low power transmission, making PPM a less desirable solution for these applications.
PPM may also be used to reduce the average transmitted power on a single channel. For example, n consecutive bits in a OOK data stream (with a bit rate of B) may be encoded into a 2n-PPM signal with a cell period of n/B. In this case, the 2n-PPM signal would transmit ½n−1 the average transmitted power of the OOK data stream. However, the 2n-PPM signal would require components with data rates up to 2n·B/n to maintain the data rate of the incoming OOK signal. In other words, the transmitting and receiving components in the link must operate at data rates that are faster than the original data rate, B. As in the previous case, a trade-off exists between average transmitted power and the bandwidth of the components.
PPM has been used in free-space data transmission systems and has even been demonstrated for fiber optic transmission. Although PPM enables lower average transmission powers, the corresponding tradeoff with channel bandwidth has prevented its commercial implementation in conventional fiber optic systems, particularly long haul DWDM systems.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to implement PPM in the context of a fiber optic communication system to reduce the required transmitted power. However, the use of PPM in the fiber optics communication system should not reduce the system throughput (i.e., bandwidth). The present invention combines multilevel amplitude modulation with PPM to achieve efficient optical data transmission without a subsequent decrease in channel bandwidth. Moreover, the PPM implementation should not require replacing an existing optical fiber plant or necessitate a change in the expensive optical components.